


Girl Meets Duet

by Monica_Rambeau



Series: Rilaya-verse [24]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/F, Rilaya, Thief AU, but it's been in my head for months and this is the only way to get it out, gentlewoman thief AU, girl meets world - Freeform, gmw, i guess?, this one is super weird
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-05-20 17:51:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19381753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monica_Rambeau/pseuds/Monica_Rambeau
Summary: NYPD Detective Lucas Friar is hot on the trail of a notorious jewel thief with a penchant for the dramatic... but when tragedy strikes, the most unlikely alliance must be forged if the city is to survive!(or: Listen, I don't even know anymore.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Long time, no see! 
> 
> So, I mean... between Persona 5 and Lupinranger, maybe I'm in a Phantom Thief kinda mood, so... this is what you get. I'ma go chapter by chapter again, so bear with me. Love you!

            A single card. Amazing, he thought, how someone’s entire destiny can be changed by a single card falling down.

            Detective Lucas Friar held the card close to his face, turning it back and forth beneath his furrowed brow. It was a bright blue, nearly turquoise, with a luxuriant golden letter “D” in scribed on each side, surrounded at the edge by a matching golden trim. The cardstock was extremely heavy, deeply textured, and the edges were rounded like a playing card’s.

            He flipped it over again, his eyebrow rising.

            How could such a simple thing be the key to the biggest crime of the year?

            The door to the evidence room burst open, not haphazard but with distinct urgency, knocking Lucas out of his reverie. His partner, Zay Babineaux, held the knob as he leaned in.

            “Chief wants to see us, Luke,” He said, ruefully. “Hope you’re ready for a good time.”

            Lucas sighed, turning the card over once more before getting up from the table.

 

\-----

 

            “Four WEEKS!” A tiny hand slammed on the large desk, making a surprisingly loud crack echo through the closed office. “Four weeks of the city’s upper crust getting nibbled at left and right, and the detectives on the case have… what was it, again?”

            The two men seemed instantly uncomfortable in their button-up shirts, even accompanied by comfortable action jeans.

            “Well,” Zay began, ever the smooth talker, “As we said, Captain, we have several pieces of promising evidence that will no doubt, with further analysis, lead to some excellent leads that—“

            “I’m sorry?” Captain Smackle cupped her hand to her ear. “I’m not fluent in bullshit, but I’m pretty sure that translates to NOTHING!!!”

            They both recoiled at the volume of the last word.

            “Captain,” Lucas stepped forward, his voice all earnestness, “He left a card at the scene of the last robbery. No info, just a single letter on a card.”

            Smackle shrugged impatiently, eager for a point to emerge.

            “The first two robberies were complete mysteries, no evidence of entry, nothing. Just a missing necklace—“

            “Worth two million dollars!” Smackle reminded.

            “—and a stolen ring.”

            “Worth another 1.5!” Zay chimed in.

            “Not helping, man,” Lucas leaned in. Zay shook his head to get back on track.

            “Then, the alarm is tripped at the private art gallery. Sloppy, yes, but also out of character. This guy sneaks into a private vault and a bank safe without a peep, but trips a laser light at a soft target like that?”

            Smackle didn’t respond, but her brow adjusted from furious, to curious, ever so subtly.

            “Then, at the importer’s, we get another alarm, and instead of just an empty crate formerly full of jade, we find this.”

            He held up the card, carrying the bewildered gaze of his partner and his superior with it.

            “He’s taunting us. Baiting us. He wants us to chase him, so he gives us a little more at each crime. And it’s that ego that’ll trip him up. We just need to—“

            “PLEASE,” the captain interrupted, “PLEASE tell me you are not about to suggest that we wait until the next heist for this joker to ALLOW us a chance to catch him!”

            “No way this mook doesn’t strike again,” Zay joined in. “He’s just getting’ started, which means we get another chance to catch ‘im in the act!”

            “Meaning you’re too INEPT to track him down using, oh, I don’t know, DETECTIVE WORK?!” Both hands hit the desk this time, practically shaking the ground beneath them. “You’re only lead is the VAGUE HOPE that he’ll stick his neck out again after stealing almost six million dollars worth of loot already?!”

            She drew in another breath to begin another bellow when her door swung open to reveal a short officer in blues, excitement on his face.

            “YOU GUYS! There’s—“

            “YOGI!!” Smackle released her wound-up scream at the new arrival. “Are you TRYING to get busted down to crossing guard?!”

            The officer seemed to think about the captain’s question for a moment, leading to the shaking of two detectives’ heads in disbelief.

            “Uhh… no?”

            Smackled sighed, long and deep, wiping her hand slowly down her face.

            “What is it, officer?”

            The policeman shook his head, as if the urgency of his interruption flooded instantly back into his brain.

            “Right! The alarm! The silent alarm at the Skylar Collection! It’s been tripped!”

            “That rare gem exhibit?” Zay’s voice rose with excitement.

            Lucas’s face alighted with the same eagerness as they both turned toward their captain.

            “Well, what the hell are you waiting for?! GET OVER THERE NOW!!!”

 

\-----

 

            The Skylar Collection was a high-end standing exhibition and auction house for gems and jewelry of extreme value, attended only by New York’s wealthiest elite and hosted in the top floor penthouse of the Dunbar building. The city’s affluent knew it as the only place in town to find the rarest of the rare, far above the rabble below.

            The cops knew it as the place where stolen goods were often _suspected_ of disappearing to, but never quite _proven_ to be so.

            Either way, the sea of flashing lights surrounding the Dunbar in the middle of the night was an uncommon sight, as was the small platoon of officers pouring into the building. Friar and Babineaux led the charge up the not inconsiderable number of stairs, finally arriving at the secured door of the collection room. They burst in to see a massive open-air apartment, arranged and outfitted to resemble an elegant museum or auction house, haloed above by a roof nearly entirely made of glass, a luxury available to those who think themselves out of crime’s reach. Tonight had proven them dead wrong.

            The detectives searched in the moonlit darkness of the exhibit, flashlights illuminating small portions of the room as their men hurried behind them creating an inescapable perimeter.

            Moving silently, in their practiced way, the partners stopped when their lights found a large glass display in the center of the open hardwood room. The gleam of their torches reflected back at them, obscuring their view, but not enough to hide the emptiness of the glass box in front of them. A wordless nod confirmed that this was the prize. They turned to search for indicators to their quarry’s location.

            Lucas found it when he shined his light up, illuminating a panel in the massive skylight sitting slightly ajar.

            “The roof,” Lucas said urgently, rushing to the stairs. Zay followed him without question.

            The pair burst out onto the silver night, the wind slowly whistling past the stone of the roof, confronting them instantly with the scale of their altitude. Babineaux seemed to stagger slightly, but his focus was steeled instantly as the two detectives trained their weapons on a shape rising up the wall surrounding the rooftop.

            “Freeze! Police!” Friar shouted.

            “Step down, now!” Babineaux encored.

            The figure raised her hands quickly, but turned on the wall slowly with a surprising amount of fluidity and grace. When she turned, they began to make out the strange silhouette of the criminal before them. They barely had time to reconcile what they were seeing when, from seemingly nowhere, a spotlight burst violently to life, fully illuminating the person on the roof’s ledge.

            The detectives were not ready for it.

            She was clad, head to toe, in a vibrant purple. Her silk top hat seemed more secure than was possible given the steady breeze at this height, especially as the long tails of her tuxedo jacket flowed behind her, guiding the eye down to the fishnet stockings running down her long legs, only leaving view as they retreated into the high heel boots balanced neatly on the ledge. Around her neck was a matching cape, pointed at the ends and lined with gold, just down to the small of her back, flapping along with her tails.

            Her beautiful face was framed by a lush mane of raven hair… at least, the men staring agog at her assumed it was beautiful, given the portion of it they could see. The upper half was obscured by an ornate mask (purple, of course), with points splaying up as they extended from the sides, right under the brim of her hat.

            She smiled.

            “Now, you boys should be more specific when you give orders like that,” the brunette cooed playfully. “We’re pretty high up, after all.”

            “Ma’am, please step back onto the roof,” a very confused Babineaux clarified.

            “Oooh, that’s my fault,” the woman sighed, apologetically. “I implied I might comply if you revised your request, didn’t I?”

            She flicked her wrist like a flash, producing a baseball-sized diamond as if from nowhere. She held it delicately in her gloved hand, displaying it.

            “I’d hate to lose my new prize right after I got it…”

            Every piece finally snapped into place once the detectives saw the massive jewel. They reaffirmed their aim and their resolve.

            “This is your last warning before we come up there to get you,” Friar shouted, his voice conveying only a hint of a protective edge. “The building is completely locked down. You’ve got no way out.”

            Her lips curled into a defiant pout.

            “Peaches!” She whined. “These cops are underestimating me!”

            “Well, now…” came a smoky voice to the detective’s right.

            They turned in a blur, pointing their weapons into the darkness, just as another spotlight illuminated the dark corner.

            “… we can’t have that, can we, Honey?”

            Another woman stood before them, this one clad in a black tuxedo and matching top hat. Her legs were covered in pants rather than tights, but her coy lean against the wall indicated the same dramatic flair that her accomplice shared. Her mask was black with the same gold accents, as was her own cape, complimenting her glowing blonde hair as it fell in a tight braid over her shoulder.

            “Don’t move!” Lucas shouted. He kept his firearm trained on the new arrival, while Zay turned back to cover their friend in purple.

            “So, what’s this? You brought your girl gang with you, sunshine?” Zay snorted.

            “Oh, it’s not a gang…” the blonde chuckled, raising her hand.

            Before Lucas could sound another warning, she snapped her fingers.

            In an instant, the spotlight illuminating her shut off, leaving Lucas to reach into the utter darkness to stop her. He came up empty, as she seemed to disappear instantly with the light.

            The electric boom of searchlights drew his gaze back to the roof ledge, to see two massive beams provide a luminous backdrop for their purple prey.

            If he didn’t know they were turned on by the police below, he’d have sworn they’d been cued.

            The brunette now held a flamboyant stance, one leg up and a purple cane (origin: unknown) pressed up to the brim of her hat. Suddenly, defying all logic, the blonde emerged from behind her, matching her pose exactly. The two clasped hands, swinging out with limbs extended before twirling on the narrow ledge, landing back to back with their legs extended straight up, gloved fingers delicately tipping their hats.

            “… it’s a Duet!”

            Lucas and Zay were frozen, stunned into near-apoplexy.

            “This… is the most extra thing I’ve ever seen,” Zay managed.

            “Give it time,” the brunette winked. “We just met!”

            “Very cute,” Friar growled. “Get down. Return the stone.” He cocked his gun. “Last chance.”

            They both smirked.

            “He’s gonna be fun, isn’t he?” the brunette chirped.

            “Definitely,” the blonde purred back. “You want us, cowboys?”

            They turned to face their opponents, twirling their canes as they did.

            “Catch us,” smirked the blonde, an instant before they jumped backward, straight off the edge.

            The detectives ran up in a panic, thrusting their faces over the edge to see their objects of pursuit sliding down a heavy cord connecting the Dunbar building to its neighbor. The blonde gripped her cane, hooked over the rope, with both hands, legs extended straight and form flawless. Her purple companion held her cane with one hand, swinging wildly, limbs in every direction, a joyous “YAAAAAY” following her across the urban chasm.

            Their hats, somehow, remained secure on their heads.

            “C’mon,” Lucas ordered, climbing up to the ledge.

            “’C’mon?!’ C’mon WHAT?! Whatchu mean, ‘C’mon?!?!’” Zay squealed, exasperated.

            Lucas, his face a mask of focus, whipped out his handcuffs, lowing himself down to the rope.

            “YOU wanna explain to Smackle how we lost them?”

            Zay stuttered, cursed, and contorted his body in protest as he joined his partner.

            An instant later found Friar sliding down the rope, gripping his cuffs tight, his body tucked up. Behind him followed Zay, his mouth wide as he shrieked the entire way across.

            They landed with a thud on a lower building connected to several structures higher above them. They looked up in time to see their prey ascending a nearby fire escape onto the roof of another building. Running next to that structure was a lower roof, much easier to jump to.

            “I’ll go high, you go low,” Lucas said as he rushed over to the ladder. Zay gasped for breath, but managed a thumbs up as he struggled to his feet.

            Lucas was up to the roof in a flash, bolting across toward the retreating forms of the gentlewoman thieves. He burned harder to close the gap as they reached the far edge of the roof.

            The two thieves leapt into the air as one to cross the distance. As they did, the brunette turned, aiming her cane like a pistol, and firing a small ball from the bottom with a colorful burst. The ball reached Detective Friar’s feet, expanding in a flash into a ribbon, wrapping tightly around his ankles. Lucas hit the rooftop hard, cursing as he tried to free himself from the devious trap.

            The thieves laughed as they ran across the next rooftop, until a shot landed at their feet, stopping them dead. They looked up to see Detective Babineaux, pistol trained on them, a small smile on his face.

            “End of the line, ladies!”

            The two turned to run back, but Lucas had freed himself and made the leap, appearing to block their way with his own weapon.

            Suddenly, a new light from the sky illuminated the pair as the deafening whir of a police helicopter circled overhead. The thieves looked to the sky, startled, until they spotted a second helicopter circling further back, this one marked with a news station’s call sign.

            “Finally!” The blonde yelled over the din.

            “I know!” Replied the brunette. “I thought they’d never get here!”

            They spun again, assuming a pair of flamboyant poses.

            “Ladies and Gentlemen of New York City!” The voice seemed to come from everywhere, as if speakers had been strategically placed beforehand, and every radio in the area had been hijacked.

            “This is the greatest city in the world, and for too long it has gone without a criminal truly worthy of its splendor!”

            “And so, after a solid month of rehearsals, tonight we raise the curtain on not one, but TWO extraordinary stars, ready to show this city what a thief really is!”

            Tired of the spectacle, Lucas ran forward to grab the pair, a move that Zay quickly echoed.

            “Presenting…!” came the voice from everywhere again, as a low platform rose from the rooftop below the thieves. They quickly hopped up as the detectives closed in.

            “… DUET!”

            The instant Lucas and Zay reached them, dozens of small missiles burst forth from the duo’s pedestal, surrounding them with a thick plume of colorful smoke, as brilliant fireworks began to explode in the air around the helicopters.

            At last, when they could breathe and see again, the detectives ran forward to capture…

            … nothing. The pedestal was empty, save for a single card, bright blue, nearly turquoise, with a luxuriant golden letter “D” inscribed on each side, surrounded at the edge by a matching golden trim. The newly famous thieves were nowhere to be found.

            As Lucas picked up the card, he looked up to the news copter, still recording the scene from overhead.

            “Captain’s gonna LOVE this!” Zay deadpanned to his extremely angry partner.


	2. Chapter 2

“If I wind up in a truss, I’m blaming you!”

            Zay grunted at Lucas as the two of them walked down the dark New York street. Lucas’ hands remained jammed into his pockets, his bowed head and hangdog expression resembling a boy returning from the principal’s office. Zay walked with an exaggerated limp, one eye squinting at his friend, a clear effort to cheer him up.

            It didn’t NOT work, much to Lucas’ chagrin.

            “You didn’t hit the roof _that_ hard…” Lucas chided.

            “Roof? I’m talkin’ about the reaming we just got from Smackle! I’m not walkin’ right for a WEEK!”

            Zay smiled as he finally coaxed a chuckle from his sour companion, straightening up and laying an arm over his shoulder.

            “Cheer up, partner,” Zay encouraged as they turned to enter a nearby door, “I’ve got just what you need to lift your spirits right in here.”

            They entered their destination, a bar close to the precinct, greeted by the surprisingly homey décor. Deep wooden accents ran throughout the place, and the presence of a number of overstuffed chairs made the space seem much larger and more luxurious than it actually was.

            “It’s gonna take more than a beer for that, man,” Lucas pouted.

            “Aw, buddy,” Zay smirked, “You know that’s not what I meant…”

            “Hi, boys!” The voice was earnest in its enthusiasm, bubbling with joy and innocent exuberance. The source of the lyrical welcome bounced up to them; a tall, smiling brunette with a wide smile that seemed made just for them.

            “Evenin’, sunshine! You look lovely, as always!” Zay swooped in with the smooth banter. Riley blushed at the compliment, swatting Zay playfully with the towel over her shoulder.

            “Zay, stop it! You’re too sweet!” Her reply was playful, bashful and joyous.

Zay soaked it in before side eyeing Lucas, as if encouraging him to follow suit.

            “H-hi, Riley,” the flustered detective managed. “How… are you?”

            His partner seemed to deflate with disappointment, gingerly placing his fingers at his temples for support.

            Riley, unflinching, giggled.

            “Well, much better now that you’re here,” she practically sang, leaning forward with a comforting grin. She touched Lucas’ arm and gestured toward their usual spots at the bar before skipping off to wipe down a nearby table.

            “That was the most depressing thing I’ve seen all night, and given the rest of our night…”

            “Ok, ok!” Lucas protested, halting his partner’s rant as they reached their usual stools. Upon sitting, Lucas proceeded to let his head fall onto the lacquered oak of the bar with a heavy thunk.

            “Rough night, fellas?” A blonde emerged from below the bar, placing two pint glasses, already filled with amber liquid, in front of the weary looking men. Her hair was collected in a high ponytail, and she wore a black polo shirt with an apron at the waist.

            “Maya,” Zay offered, “A _rough_ night would be if we were shot in the line of duty. This…?”

            He gestured at the television in the corner above the bar, tuned to a news station continuing to broadcast their blunder on the rooftops.

            “… this makes ‘rough’ look like a sponge bath.”

            “Yeah,” Maya chuckled, sympathetically, “I figured we’d see you guys in here after that…”

            “Oh, it was so HORRIBLE!” Riley erupted as the peeled up to the bar. “Those two dangerous criminals fighting you on top of a building! I’m so glad you two are ok!”

            “Oh, it…” Lucas stammered a bit, trying to calm the woman beside him, “I… don’t think they were actually _dangerous_ , just…”

            “A huge pain in the ass?” Zay offered between sips of beer.

            “Yeah, that,” Lucas acquiesced.

            “They seem like pretty smooth operators, whoever they are,” Maya offered thoughtfully, looking up at the screen displaying the rooftop disappearing act yet again.

            “MAYA!” Riley reprimanded. “Don’t compliment them! They made our best customers look like idiots in front of the whole city!”

            “WHOA, hey now!” Zay erupted. “We didn’t look like _idiots…!”_

Lucase raised a prompting eyebrown at his partner.

            “… Ok, maybe… they may have made us look a bit… _unpolished…_ ”

            “Not the word our captain used…” Lucas ruminated.

            Riley’s face seemed to melt.

            “Oh, no! They’re not blaming YOU for this, are they?”

            “Well, we were the ones who lost them,” Lucase admitted ruefully. Zay looked like he may jump in with another rejoinder, but he just sighed heavily into his drink.

            “Ah, c’mon,” Maya gestured dismissively, “How were you supposed to know they’d have something like that set up?”

            “But _they_ knew…” Lucas was looking at the footage again, thoughtfully. “They knew right where we’d chase them, even right where we’d corner them... they set up lights and tricks, all perfectly anticipating our moves… almost like they knew _us_ …”

            Maya smiled, resting her hand on Lucas’s arm. She gave it a soft shake.

            “Don’t sweat it, flatfoot,” She said with a smirk. “You’ll get ‘em next time.”

            “Yeah!” Riley echoed, bouncing with enthusiasm beside him.

            Lucas had just smiled back, basking in the support of his friends, when a loud buzzing noise prompted him to reach for his pocket. Zay did the same, before they both froze, reading the screens in their hands. An instant later, they were tossing money on the bar and grabbing their coats.

            “Thanks for the drinks, ladies!” Zay said, hurrying toward the door.

            “What is it?” Riley called after them.

            Lucas turned back for just a moment.

            “It’s next time.”


End file.
